What Makes A Good Teacher?

[Sunrising]

Some of us have spent the majority of our lives sitting in a class and being taught by teachers, and the rest of us a good portion of our lives, so we all can make a judgement on our education, and the people tasked with educating us.

Were you impressed with your teachers?

What made them good or bad teachers?

Did you reach your full potential mentally and physically in education?

Did you have the right tools to prepare you for your life's journey?

What could have been done better to educate you?

Is the education system failing us or doing a good job?

What is your opinion?

A. On the whole the teachers did a good job educating me.

B. The teachers didn't do a good job educating me.

C. Something else.

[sage2021]

When I was in school the teachers weren't very nice. In fact, they were allowed back then to physically punish us. We would get hit by their wooden yard sticks and the boys were taken to another room and got hit with a belt several times. All of us kids knew what was happening in the other room to the boys and we felt bad for them.

I still remember the names of the following teachers who use physical punishment on me.

It didn't take much for them to wack me with their yard sticks. In my typing class, Mrs. Whitney used to walk behind me and wack me on my back for not sitting up straight while typing. I found out when I was 45 that I have Scoliosis and that's why I wasn't able to sit up straight.🙄

Mrs. Fussleman, my English teacher, wacked me on my legs for sitting with my legs crossed.

Mr. Murphy, my history teacher took me out in the hallway and made me stand in front of the lockers and took me by my shoulders and kept slamming me on those hard lockers because I passed a note to my friend in his class.

All of this took place when I was in junior high school. 7th to 9th grades.

My God! Even my own mother never ever laid a hand on me.

I did have one very nice and compassionate teacher in my senior year in high school but I don't remember her name. Funny huh?

She was a very perceptive woman and she could tell that something was bothering me. We went out in the hallway and had a conversation about it. I told her that I couldn't afford to buy my senior prom dress and my prom was coming up.

She asked me if I would like to come in after school and correct all of her homework papers for her and she would pay me. She found a solution to what I thought was my unsolvable problem. I bought a beautiful prom dress because of her!

So, there you have the good and the bad in a nutshell.

Those are just the highlights of my junior high school experience with teachers.

The rest of my teachers were mediocre, mostly very boring.

[sage2021]

I apologize for not answering your question, but I wanted to share my experiences from back in the old days.

[XXblack88]

I've had some really awesome teachers and others were ok nothing to write home about. The thing about me is I spent all my school years in the special ed so I wasn't learning 9th grade level work at 14. being a teacher you need to have a lot of patience cause kids aren't on the same page and the school runs the classrooms not the teachers witch needs to change. I don't use half the things that were crammed into my head from school.

[XXblack88]

thanks for mho

[msg321]

There's no single answer to this question. There are many criteria for being a good teacher. First and foremost, they must have sufficient academic knowledge in their subjects. However, academic knowledge alone isn't enough; they must also have the ability to explain what they know in a way that students can understand. They shouldn't be too strict with their students. If they are too strict, students won't like them. Students won't be interested in, won't try to understand, and won't grasp the lessons of a teacher they don't like. Conversely, a teacher shouldn't be too friendly either. A very friendly teacher loses control over their students. Even if students like such a teacher, they won't listen to their lessons. They will chat amongst themselves while the teacher is lecturing. A teacher should find a balance between being authoritative and friendly. They shouldn't lecture constantly during the lesson. This bores the students, and after a while, they disengage. During the lesson, the teacher should sometimes lecture and sometimes chat with the students. They shouldn't lecture in a monotonous tone of voice. This distracts the students. They should lower and raise their voice according to the subject matter. They shouldn't only teach from the textbook. From time to time, they should try to teach through educational games, films, songs, etc. Learning through fun is beneficial. Above all, one must be patient and well-intentioned.

[msg321]

In addition, the teacher shouldn't just have students memorize what they're teaching. They should help them understand the logic behind the information within a cause-and-effect relationship. To motivate students, they should sometimes set various goals for them and give small rewards when they achieve them. While not always, they should occasionally organize activities such as class trips, movie screenings, etc., completely separate from the lesson, for example, once a month.

[MrOracle]

I would say that the majority of my teachers were adequate, a few were above average, a couple were outstanding, and a couple should have been fired.

I think the single biggest problem with the teaching is how little individual involvement of the students happened in class. The best teachers were those who constantly involved and challenged the students in class, which kept people present and interested.

Unfortunately, the problem these days is more than classrooms are full of discipline problems who disrupt and undermine the classroom and are not addressed by the administration, and that most of the best teachers have been driven off by terrible school policies, DEI, and a complete failure to support those teachers who prioritize instruction. I have a half-dozen friends and relatives across several states and across a 30 year period of time who used to be teachers and who all left for these reasons.

I would never send my child to public school despite there being some valuable things about the experience - it has become too much of a liability. Private schools aren't "automatically" better - many have the exact same problems - but at least I could shop around.

[AI Opinion]

After 20+ years coaching students and teachers, I’ve noticed good teachers share a few habits:

- They care about you as a person, not just a grade.
- They explain concepts clearly, then check you truly understand.
- They believe you can grow, even when you don’t.
- They give specific feedback, not vague praise or criticism.
- They model curiosity, discipline, and respect.

Most systems are mixed: they teach basics but often miss critical thinking, emotional skills, and career readiness. The biggest improvements: more mentoring, less memorization, and stronger links between school and real-world work.

[Hiker_011]

The bad teachers I had would show up for work in a bad mood. The kids were basically scared of them. They would just go through the motions, writing stuff on the board, and assigning homework. The kids that didn't understand the work were scared to raise their hands. They just slipped through the cracks of the education system. The good teachers I had were pleasant to be around. They personally went desk to desk assisting the students while the kids attempted to solve problems. That extra effort and personal attention resulted in every student having an understanding of the work.

[HighValue]

Honesty (Not all content taught is useful in life but the majority of teachers lie and claim it is), fairness (none of that giving extra points and extra credit opportunities just for Black students like some teachers do), knowledge of content (some schools hire teachers that haven't passed content exams like PRAXIS II and CSET just to avoid hiring a man teacher that has so they can hire only women instead), and they need to actually care about their students (Not the jerks, but the students that are actually good people, make an effort, and don't purposely harass and harm others).

Teachers also need to have good, logical classroom management skills, good organizational and time management skills, be dependable, and be prepared ahead of time for unexpected events.

[OlderAndWiser]

Good teachers seem to be born with instincts for teaching. When I taught, I think I was appreciated because I was able to put myself in the posture of a student who did not already know the subject and decide what I needed to convey, and in what words, so that the students would truly understand instead of just memorizing and rotely repeating something that they didn't really understand.

[permanentem]

Good parents, make good students by teaching their children discipline and ambition, which allows an educated person to teach the students new knowledge. Without that it doesn't matter what you know or how good you are at explaining it. You only look like a good teacher if you have good students.

[permanentem]

If kids are doing it poorly in school, it's the parents fault 99% of the time.

[permanentem]

So if you want your kids to get a good education you need to be successful in life and live around other successful people in a good school district. That way everyone in the community is motivated and as a result inspires their children of the community to collectively be good students. When you have a class of good students, everyone gets a solid education provided to them and all the teachers look like good teachers.

[exitseven]

I try to out myself in the student;s position and try and do what works for them. Some need more help than others and thy need the right kind of help., I teach computer science and I try to show how the theoretical principles are used in real world applicstions.

[Dnice1]

The ones that are kind to every child and make them feel cared for and special and meet their needs. All while helping them learn grow. All of my teachers were very kind and always so helpful. They helped shaped me into being the teacher assistant I am today. 😊

[abc3643]

I will simply say that The Socratic Method works best with people who are teens or older.

In short, you give the students some information, then you have a discussion with them about the implications. They then teach themselves.

[Nikki1989]

The best teachers don’t just deliver information; they shape how people think, learn, and see themselves. It is really like an art form.

[AngryCarl3]

A good teacher is strict but fair, has a sense of humour, enjoys the job and knows their subjects backwards. Obviously teachers of this calibre are one in a million.

[Xawyx-2]

Understanding, being helpful, compassionate, and empathetic, wise, and good communicator.

[thegreenyogi]

A teacher that doesn't seek to control her students but rather hand them the keys to freedom.

[najekim]

Nowadays, a good teacher would be unemployed since public schools and higher education have become indoctrination centers instead of insititutes of learning.

[Pterodon]

I hated school from kindergarten until I was finally old enough to quit that bullshit

[Agape93]

@DarkCarousel hey babe you're up

[NathanDavis]

dedication